亞特蘭大的樹洞

     Keller was once well known for his temper. Many of the cooks who worked under him hated him. When one of his line cooks once complained about a late walk-ing, Keller fired the cook on the spot. You want to go home, go home, Keller said. The young cook pleaded and pleaded. But fired means fired.

     Reminded about his early days, he says "There comes a point when you've exhausted rational expression. And you've got to revert to more primitive means. But by then it's too late anyway."

     So now he uses calmer means to convey his anger or disapproval. Silence can be more effective than a scream. And he will get angry in his kitchen, but i never heard him raise his voice. His anger is concentrated and focused.

p. 240

The Soul of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman ISBN13: 9780141001890

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這是我接觸到的第一本廚房書，不比 Anthony Bourdain (安東尼·波登) 把廚師生涯描述得好似 Rock star, 或 Gordon Ramsay 把廚師演繹成滿口髒話的暴君，在這本書裡，Michael Ruhlman 細細描寫這行背後的嚴謹，專業和自我要求。書裡分三部份，分別描寫了：美國廚藝學院的大廚鑑定考，克里夫蘭的新興餐廳 LOLA ，第三部份最引人入勝，他訪問加州的 Thomas Keller，從這個米其林三星廚師的日常生活裡，觀察出何謂 "料理人之魂"

" 以前的 Keller 以脾氣壞聞名，很多幫他工作過的廚師都很痛恨他。有一次，一個廚師抱怨一桌客人快關店了還進來，他聽到後當場開除那個廚師。

' 那麼想回家？那就回家吧' Keller 說

那個年輕的廚師一求再求，但是開除就是開除，沒什麼好說。

當 Keller 想到早年的行徑，他說：有時候你會所有理性都耗盡，只能用更原始的方法來表達自己，不過事情發展到那個程度的時候，都已經太遲了。

所以現在他以比較平靜的方式來傳達生氣或不認同，沉默可以比大吼大叫更有用，而且他在廚房上班時還是會發怒，不過我從來沒聽過他提高音量，他現在的怒氣凝聚而集中。"

在最迷失的日子裡，這本書曾是我的船錨，我的燈塔。